Liberalism in Hong Kong
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Liberalism has a long tradition as an economic philosophy since the founding of Hong Kong as an '' entrepôt'' which cherishes
private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
, the
free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
, and
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
. In recent decades, Hong Kong has earned its international reputation as one of the " freest economies in the world". As a political trend, liberalism has become the driving force of the
democratic movement A democracy is a political system, or a system of decision-making within an institution or organization or a country, in which all members have an equal share of power. Modern democracies are characterized by two capabilities that differentiate ...
since the 1980s which is mainly represented by the pro-democracy camp which strives for the
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
,
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
and
rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was established as a free trading port by Britain in 1841 and has been strongly influenced by the ''
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
'' ideals throughout its history. However as a largely racially segregated and politically closed colony, attempts at liberal reform received little success in the 19th century. Nevertheless, many western-educated Chinese intellectuals based in Hong Kong became the some of most prominent liberal thinkers which pushed for modernisation of China, including
Ho Kai Sir Kai Ho, CMG, JP, MRCS (; 21 March 1859 – 21 July 1914), better known as Sir Kai Ho Kai, born Ho Shan-kai (), was a Hong Kong barrister, physician and essayist in Colonial Hong Kong. He played a key role in the relationship between ...
and revolutionaries such as Yeung Ku-wan and
Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
. A small scale self-government movement derived from
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Mark Aitchison Young's proposed constitutional reform in the early post-war period. The emergence of the contemporary liberalism took root in the rapid democratisation in the final years of the colonial years in the 1980s and 1990s, which the pro-democracy camp was united under the banner of an autonomous Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty. The liberals consolidated their popular support from the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
and received landslide victories in the first direct elections in
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
and
1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
in the final colonial years. The liberals took the defensive role against the Beijing's authoritarian regime going into the early SAR period which led to the massive demonstration against the
Basic Law Article 23 Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 () is an article in the Hong Kong Basic Law, Basic Law, the organic law, constitution of Hong Kong. It states that Hong Kong "shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subvers ...
in 2003. The liberals suffered from internal crises and fragmentation over the approaches on fighting for full democracy and safeguarding Hong Kong's liberal values against Beijing's increasing encroachment on Hong Kong's autonomy, which led to the rise of localism in the 2010s. The large-scale
civil disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...
of Occupy Central in 2014 and the historic anti-government protests in 2019 resulted in Beijing's heavy-handed crackdown and subsequent retaliation, which put the liberal movement into limbo.


Liberal roots in the 19th to early 20th century


Laissez-faire liberalism

The cession of Hong Kong under the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 was overseen by then- British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston who demanded a commercial treaty that would put Sino-British trade relations on a satisfactory footing or the cession of a small island where the British opium traders could live under their own flag free from threats from the Chinese officials in
Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...
. Lord Palmerston was a prime figure of the Whig Party, which was the predecessor of the Liberal Party. The aims of the
Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...
was to open up the Chinese market in the name of free trade. As the British free port of Hong Kong, taking advantage as the gateway to the vast Chinese market, Hong Kong merchants, the so-called
comprador A comprador or compradore () is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation". A comprador is a Indigenous peoples, native manager for a European business house in East ...
s, had taken a leading role in investment and trading opportunities by serving as middlemen between the European and indigenous population in China and Hong Kong, in the principles of
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture. Definition Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular patt ...
, which has since dominated the economic discourse of Hong Kong. Sir
John Bowring Sir John Bowring , or Phraya Siamanukulkij Siammitrmahayot, , , group=note (17 October 1792 – 23 November 1872) was a British political economist, traveller, writer, literary translator, polyglot and the fourth Governor of Hong Kong. He was a ...
, the
Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...
from 1854 to 1859 and a disciple of liberal philosopher
Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...
for instance was a chief campaigner of free trade at the time. He believed that "Jesus Christ is free trade and free trade is Jesus Christ." In 1858, Bowring proudly claimed that "Hong Kong presents another example of elasticity and potency of unrestricted commerce." For that reason, Hong Kong was rated the world's freest economy for 25 years, from 1995 to 2020, a title bestowed on it by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, and was greatly admired by
libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
economist
Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...
.


Political liberalism

Compared to
economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...
,
political liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for co ...
remained marginal in Hong Kong and did not gain much political influence. However, as the debate over Chinese modernisation got fiercer by the end of the 20th century, Hong Kong became the home of Chinese reformists and revolutionaries, namely Sir
Ho Kai Sir Kai Ho, CMG, JP, MRCS (; 21 March 1859 – 21 July 1914), better known as Sir Kai Ho Kai, born Ho Shan-kai (), was a Hong Kong barrister, physician and essayist in Colonial Hong Kong. He played a key role in the relationship between ...
, who was inspired by classical liberal thinkers such as
John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...
,
Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...
,
Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...
,
Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...
and
John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
. He was an advocate of
constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
in China and a sympathiser of the revolutionary cause, along with his protégé,
Dr. Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
, who had studied in Hong Kong and had stated that he got the inspiration for his revolutionary and modernist ideas from Hong Kong. One of the earliest revolutionary organisations, the Furen Literary Society, was set up in Hong Kong by Yeung Ku-wan in 1892. The society met in
Pak Tsz Lane Pak or PAK may refer to: Places * Pakistan (country code PAK) * Pak, Afghanistan * Pak Island, in the Admiralty Islands group of Papua New Guinea * Pak Tea House, a café in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Arts and entertainment * PAK (band), an Am ...
, in Central, Hong Kong, and released books and papers discussing the future of China and advocating the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of a democratic republic in China, priding themselves on the motto of "full-hearted patriotism" and striving for knowledge, inquiry and public awareness. The society was later merged into the
Revive China Society The Hsing Chung Hui (Hanyu Pinyin romanization: Xīngzhōnghuì), translated as the Revive China Society (興中會), the Society for Regenerating China, or the Proper China Society was founded by Sun Yat-sen on 24 November 1894 to forward th ...
secretly founded by Sun Yat-sen in 1894. There were very few liberal reforms carried out by the colonial government towards the end of the 19th century. For instance, Sir John Bowring proposed that the elections to the Legislative Council should be based on property and not racial qualification. He believed that voting rights for the Chinese would "earn their support for the British government", which was strongly opposed by the local European community and the Colonial Office. Sir
John Pope Hennessy Sir John Pope Hennessy (; 8 August 1834 – 7 October 1891), was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator who served as the eighth Governor of Hong Kong and the fifteenth Governor of Mauritius. Early life John Pope Henness ...
, the Governor of Hong Kong from 1877 to 1893, was a liberal-minded governor who attempted to tackle the problem of
racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
in the colony, but had received stiff resistance within the colonial establishment for his radical agenda. Hennessy also proposed to abolish flogging as a form of punishment, which received widespread opposition from the European community, who even held a public protest meeting against his proposal. There were sporadic voices for political liberalisation in Hong Kong during the late 19th and early 20th century. One of the examples was the
Constitutional Reform Association of Hong Kong The Constitutional Reform Association of Hong Kong was a political group formed by expatriate British community striving for constitutional reform in Hong Kong in the late 1910s. History It was first launched in a well-attended meeting at the The ...
, which was formed by the expatriate British business community in 1917. Headed by
Henry Pollock Sir Henry Edward Pollock, QC, JP (, 16 December 1864 – 2 February 1953) was an English barrister who became a prominent politician in Hong Kong. He acted as Attorney General in Hong Kong on several occasions, and was once appointed to the ...
and P. H. Holyoak, it submitted a proposal of introducing unofficial majority within the Legislative Council to the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...
, represented by member of parliament Colonel John Ward, but the proposal was ultimately rejected by the Colonial Office. Failing to obtain any meaningful success for their proposals, the Constitutional Reform Association ceased to exist by October 1923.


Post-war liberal trends


Young Plan

The liberal movement experienced a resurgence following the return of British rule in 1945, after a three-year long Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Governor Mark Aitchison Young announced the plan for constitutional changes on the day of the return of the civil government in 1946, as "an appropriate and acceptable means of affording to all communities in Hong Kong an opportunity of more active political participation, through their responsible representatives, in the administration of the Territory." It proposed to set up a municipal council which would give Hong Kong a limited degree of representative government. The Young Plan generated debates in the local community. Several political groups were set up to participate in the debate over political liberalisation, such as the Reform Club of Hong Kong, consisting mainly of the expatriate community, and the
Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association The Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association () is a pro-Beijing political organisation established in 1949 in Hong Kong. It was one of the three pillars of the pro-Communist leftist camp throughout most of the time in Hong Kong under colonial rul ...
, consisting of mostly Chinese members in 1949. However due to the Communist takeover of China and the outbreak of the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, Governor Alexander Grantham was less enthusiastic about the constitutional reform which eventually led to it being shelved in 1952. Two of the elected seats in the
Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...
were recreated in the 1952 election and were gradually increased as the membership of the Urban Council was expanded. The Reform Club, along with the
Hong Kong Civic Association The Hong Kong Civic Association is one of the longest-existing political organisations in Hong Kong. Established in 1954 by a group of teachers, professionals and businessmen, the Civic Association was one of the two semi-political parties to ...
set up in 1954, participated in the Urban Council elections before the 1980s and were seen as the closest to
opposition parties Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
in Hong Kong during the post-war colonial period.


Self-government movement

The call for political liberalisation and self-government continued in the 1950s and 1960s. The United Nations Association of Hong Kong (UNAHK), formed by Ma Man-fai in 1953, demanded sovereignty in Hong Kong. In a proposal drafted in 1961, the association laid out a plan for an ultimately fully direct election for the Legislative Council, which in that period was appointed by the governor. The Reform Club and the Civic Association also formed a coalition in 1960 and sent a delegate to London to demand fully direct elections to the Legislative Council and universal suffrage, but failed to negotiate any meaningful reforms. The self-proclaimed "
anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
" and " anti-colonial"
Democratic Self-Government Party of Hong Kong The Democratic Self-Government Party of Hong Kong was the first political party calling for self-government in Hong Kong established in 1964. it was founded by Ma Man-fai, chairman of the United Nations Association of Hong Kong, lawyer Chang L ...
was set up in 1963, calling for a fully independent government in which the Chief Minister would be elected by all Hong Kong residents, while the British government would only preserve its power over diplomacy and military. There were also the Hong Kong Socialist Democratic Party and the Labour Party of Hong Kong, which took a more left-leaning and democratic socialist approach to Hong Kong's independence and decolonization. In 1966, Urban Councillor Elsie Elliott, who was also member of the UNAHK, visited London and met with British government officials and Members of Parliament, asking for constitutional reform towards sovereignty, a reform of the judiciary towards impartiality and equal representation, and comprehensive anti-corruption investigations of the colonial nomenklatura and legal authorities. After once again failing to obtain any successful concessions, all the parties advocating for the self-government in Hong Kong ceased to exist by the mid-1970s.


Positive non-interventionism

Economic liberalism and free-market capitalism remained the dominant economic philosophy in Hong Kong throughout its history. In 1971, Financial Secretary John Cowperthwaite coined the term "positive non-interventionism", which stated that the economy was doing well in the absence of
government intervention Economic interventionism, sometimes also called state interventionism, is an economic policy position favouring government intervention in the market process with the intention of correcting market failures and promoting the general welfare of ...
and excessive
regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
, but it was important to create the regulatory and physical infrastructure to facilitate market-based decision making. This policy was continued by subsequent Financial Secretaries, including Sir Philip Haddon-Cave, who said that "positive non-interventionism involves taking the view that it is usually futile and damaging to the growth rate of an economy, particularly an open economy, for the Government to attempt to plan the allocation of resources available to the private sector and to frustrate the operation of market forces", although he stated that the description of Hong Kong as a laissez-faire society was "frequent but inadequate". The economic philosophy was highly praised by economist
Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...
, who wrote in 1990 that the Hong Kong economy was perhaps the best example of a free market economy. Right before he died in 2006, Friedman wrote the article "Hong Kong Wrong – What would Cowperthwaite say?" in the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', criticizing
Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...
, then
Chief Executive of Hong Kong The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of governor of ...
who had the slogan of "big market, small government," where small government is defined as less than 20 per cent of the GDP, for abandoning the doctrine of "positive non-interventionism."


1970s student movements

The 1970s in Hong Kong were the prime years of liberal student movements. Although the student unions were all dominated by the
Chinese nationalists The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Taiw ...
which were largely inspired by the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
and personality cult of Mao Zedong in Mainland China at the time, a liberal cabinet led by
Mak Hoi-wah Mak Hoi-wah (; born 9 April 1951) is a Hong Kong politician, social worker and social activist. He was the member of the Wong Tai Sin District Board and former vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements ...
and assisted by Albert Ho won the 1974 election of the
Hong Kong University Students' Union The Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU; ) was a students' union in Hong Kong registered under the Societies Ordinance founded in 1912. It was the officially recognized undergraduate students' association of the University of Hong Kong ...
(HKUSU). The liberals held slightly Chinese nationalist sentiments but strongly opposed the blind-eyed pro-Communist nationalist discourse and stressed caring for the Hong Kong society and its citizens. Many of them also opposed colonial rule. They participated in social movements, such as the Chinese Language Movement, the anti-corruption movement, the Baodiao movement and so on, in which many of the student leaders became the main leaders of the pro-democracy movement at the turn of the 21st century.


Waves of liberalisation in the 1980s and 1990s


Sino-British agreement and drafting of the Basic Law

In the late 1970s, the Chinese economic reform launched by paramount leader of the Chinese Communist government
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
and the approaching of the question over the Hong Kong's sovereignty after 1997 opened the opportunity for the emergence of the contemporary liberalism in Hong Kong. In the late 1970s
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Murray MacLehose Crawford Murray MacLehose, Baron MacLehose of Beoch, (; 16 October 1917 – 27 May 2000), was a British politician, diplomat and the 25th Governor of Hong Kong, from 1971 to 1982. He was the longest-serving governor of the colony, with four ...
carried out massive social reforms and also expanded the local representation of the colonial government and the district administration, which saw the establishment of the elected local advisory institutes District Boards and the territory-wide franchise of the
Urban Council The Urban Council (UrbCo) was a municipal council in Hong Kong responsible for municipal services on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon (including New Kowloon). These services were provided by the council's executive arm, the Urban Services ...
. While the Beijing authorities insisted China shall resume its sovereignty over Hong Kong after 1997, British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
insisted that the legality of the Treaty of Nanking must be upheld. Some Hong Kong liberal intellectuals saw it as an opportunity to change the colonial status quo to a democratic and fairer society. This view was held by
Tsang Shu-ki Tsang Shu-ki (; 15 April 1950 – 16 August 2014) was a Hong Kong economist and social activist. He was the founding member of the Meeting Point, a political organisation in the 1980s and was the influential thinker among the student and social act ...
, a prominent thinker in the social activist circle at the time. In January 1983, the liberals forming the Meeting Point favoured Chinese rule with the slogan of the new Three Principles of People, "Nation, Democracy and People's Livelihood." It became one of the earliest groups in Hong Kong that favoured Chinese sovereignty, but they also wanted a free, democratic and autonomous Hong Kong. The Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 guaranteed Hong Kong would retain a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule with the preservation of the maintained Western lifestyle in Hong Kong. Deng Xiaoping also emphasised the principle of "Hong Kong's people ruling Hong Kong." Starting from 1984, the colonial government began the process of
decolonisation Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
by gradually introducing representative democracy into Hong Kong. The reform proposals were first carried out in the ''Green Paper: the Further Development of Representative Government'' in July 1984 which allowed 24 seats in the Legislative Council to be indirectly elected by electoral college in 1985. During the period, many liberal political groups were formed to contest the electoral politics in different levels. By the late 1980s, the Meeting Point led by Yeung Sum, the
Hong Kong Affairs Society The Hong Kong Affairs Society () was a middle class and professionals oriented political organisation formed in 1984 for the discussion for the Hong Kong prospect and political constitution after the handover to China with about 20 members led ...
led by Albert Ho formed in 1985, and the
Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) is a Hong Kong pro-democracy social-liberal political party catering to grassroots interest with a strong basis in Sham Shui Po. Established on 26 October 1986, it was one o ...
(HKADPL) led by Frederick Fung became the three major liberal political forces active in elections. The liberals also formed the
Joint Committee on the Promotion of Democratic Government The Joint Committee on the Promotion of Democratic Government (, abbreviated 民促會; JGPDG) was an umbrella organisation representing various groups of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. It was established on 27 October 1986 by 190 grou ...
(JCPDG) to demand a faster pace of democratisation and to introduce direct elections in the 1988 Legislative Council. It was led by the two most prominent liberal icons, Martin Lee and Szeto Wah, who were elected to the Legislative Council and were also appointed by Beijing into the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC), to draft the provisional constitution of the Hong Kong government after 1997. To counter the liberal emergence, the business elites formed a
conservative coalition The conservative coalition, founded in 1937, was an unofficial alliance of members of the United States Congress which brought together the conservative wings of the Republican and Democratic parties to oppose President Franklin Delano Rooseve ...
with the pro-Communist Beijing loyalists, which warned of the rise of populism and disruption to the prosperity and stability if democratisation was to implement too quick. In the BLDC, the liberal faction, the
Group of 190 The Group of 190 was a coalition emerged during the discussion of the drafting of the Hong Kong Basic Law and constitutional reform in the transition period of Hong Kong in the 1980s. The coalition was formed in response to the Group of 89 which adv ...
also faced the conservative Group of 89, who favoured a less democratic system after 1997. Hong Kong became increasingly politicised in the latter half of the 1980s with two rival blocs debating on the pace of democratisation as well as various political and social issues.


Tiananmen protest and the liberal zenith

The liberals supported the democratic cause of the
Tiananmen protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Four ...
and formed the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China (HKASPDMC) to provide material supports to the student protesters in Beijing. Several solidarity demonstrations in May 1989 also attended by up to a million Hong Kong residents. The star-dubbed
Concert for Democracy in China The Concert for Democracy in China () was a benefit concert held in Hong Kong in support of the students involved in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The concert was held on May 27, 1989, at the Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island. T ...
also raised more than over HK$12 million for the students in Beijing. The bloody crackdown on the protest on 4 June 1989 shocked the general public in Hong Kong and triggered a crisis of confidence in Hong Kong's future under Chinese rule, leading to the massive emigration waves on eve of the
handover of Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the British Hong Kong, former colony. Hong Kong was establ ...
. Prominent liberal leaders Martin Lee and Szeto Wah resigned from the BLDC as an act of protest against the Beijing government after the massacre and the warm relationship between Beijing and pro-democrats have broken off since. The democrats have held the annual Tiananmen vigils every year and called for the end of one-party rule in China which was seen as "treason" and "subversive" by the Beijing authorities. The widespread fear of the Communist regime and the support for democracy also consolidated the popular foundation of the pro-democracy camp. In the first Legislative Council direct election in 1991, the liberals united under the banner of the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) which became the first major political party in Hong Kong's history. The UDHK and Meeting Point alliance and other pro-democratic independents including Emily Lau swept the votes by winning 16 of the 18 direct elected seats. To counter the liberal rise in the legislature, the conservative business elites formed the Liberal Party in 1993 which positioned itself as the defender of economically liberal values such as free market and free enterprise but took political conservative positions against democratisation. The arrival of the last governor
Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...
, the former chairman of the
British Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
, also brought a paradigm shift on Hong Kong politics. Despite Beijing's strong opposition, he put forward the progressive constitutional reform proposals to enfranchise 2.7 million new voters and lower the voting age from 21 to 18. Safeguarded by the liberal majority, the Patten proposals were passed in the Legislative Council after unprecedented political wrangling despite the Beijing's attempt to defeat the bill by allying the business elites. In the substantially more democratic elections in 1995, the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
, formed out of the merger of the United Democrats and the Meeting Point movement received another landslide victory, winning half of the Legislative Council seats. Many liberal pieces of legislation were able to pass in the final years of colonial rule, such as decriminalising same-sex acts, abolishing death penalty and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance. Given the booming Hong Kong economy, the colonial government also mildly expanded social welfare and public housing. At the time, there were also new liberal parties being set up, such as the radical The Frontier, led by Emily Lau, and the Citizens Party, led by
Christine Loh Christine Loh Kung-wai, SBS, OBE, JP, Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite (born 1 February 1956), is a former Hong Kong Legislative Councillor, founder and CEO of Civic Exchange, founder of the Citizens Party, and founder of Hong K ...
. In response to the Patten proposals, the Beijing government set up the Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) which was seen as unconstitutional by the pro-democrats. The pro-democrats, except for the HKADPL, boycotted the PLC and stepped down as legislators during the last days of colonial rule. The pro-democrats ran again in the first legislative elections of the SAR period. Although the pro-democrats continuously received about 55 to 60 per cent of the popular vote in every election held since 1997, their influence was contained and hampered by the indirectly elected trade-based
functional constituencies A functional constituency is an electoral device (a non-geographical constituency) used within the political systems of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China: * Functional constituency (Hong Kong) * Functional cons ...
.


Democratic stagnation in the early handover period


Basic Law Article 23 and 2003 pro-democracy wave

Being excluded from the government by the unique design of the electoral system and composition of the Legislative Council, the liberals took a defensive role of safeguarding Hong Kong's civil liberties, human rights, rule of law and autonomy from Beijing interference while striving for the
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as stipulated in Hong Kong Basic Law Article 45 and Article 68. The pro-democrats launched a civil nomination to nominate Szeto Wah to run in a mock first SAR Chief Executive election, while some activists launched a protest on the establishment day of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) on 1 July to call for the implementation of universal suffrage and the abolishing of the functional constituencies. The Democratic Party, the flagship liberal party of Hong Kong, suffered from the intra-party factional struggles in the first SAR years where the more radical pro-grassroots "Young Turks" split from the party after failing to challenge the moderate party leadership. They formed the
Social Democratic Forum The Social Democratic Forum (, SDF) was a short-lived political group in Hong Kong formed by the radical faction of the Democratic Party. It consisted mostly the "Young Turks" faction of the Democratic Party which took a more pro-grassroots and str ...
which held a more
social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...
and pro-working-class stance and later joined Emily Lau's The Frontier. Between 2002 and 2003 when Hong Kong was still suffering from the Asian financial crisis and the
SARS epidemic Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...
, the
Tung Chee-hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chin ...
administration proposed the national security legislation enforcing the
Basic Law Article 23 Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 () is an article in the Hong Kong Basic Law, Basic Law, the organic law, constitution of Hong Kong. It states that Hong Kong "shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subvers ...
sparked the fear among the liberals who deemed the bill a potential threat to Hong Kong people's
civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
. On 1 July 2003, an estimated 350,000 to 700,000 people marched to the street against the unpopular Tung administration which eventually brought down the legislation. The massive demonstration reenergised the pro-democracy movement, which saw a wave of new activists participating in social activism and electoral politics which led to the formation of the middle-class and professional oriented Civic Party and the social democratic
League of Social Democrats The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy camp and stresses on ...
(LSD) in 2006. The liberal movement lost its momentum after the 2004 decision of the
National People's Congress Standing Committee The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...
(NPCSC) ruled out the universal suffrage for the Chief Executive and Legislative Council in 2007 and 2008. The liberals successfully entered the 2007 Chief Executive election for the first time when
Alan Leong Alan Leong Kah-kit (; born 22 February 1958), SC is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, representing the Kowloon East geographical constituency, and the sitting-Chairman of the Civic Party. He was also vice-chairperson of th ...
of the Civic Party secured nomination from the 800-member
Election Committee The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college, the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, to elect 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong ...
strictly controlled by Beijing. Alan Leong ultimately lost to incumbent Chief Executive
Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...
, receiving only 15 per cent of the electoral votes. In December 2007, the NPCSC once again ruled out universal suffrage in 2012 but stated that the 2017 Chief Executive election may be held with universal suffrage.


Liberal disarray and Umbrella Revolution

In 2009 the radical
League of Social Democrats The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy camp and stresses on ...
(LSD) proposed a " Five Constituencies Referendum" campaign by triggering a city-wide by-election to pressure the government to implement the universal suffrage in 2012. The proposal was welcomed by the Civic Party by rejected by the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
, which caused a great disunity among the liberal movement. Instead, the Democratic Party and the moderate Alliance for Universal Suffrage sought to engage in peaceful negotiations with Beijing, and officially split from the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats. After a secret meeting with the Beijing authorities at the Liaison Office, the central government accepted the Democratic Party's modified proposals to allow ten new seats to be directly elected. The negotiation was seen as an "act of betrayal" by the radicals which led to emergence of the
People Power "People Power" is a political term denoting the populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organised corporate or political for ...
running against the Democratic Party in the 2011 District Council election. Dissatisfied with the traditional liberals' little success in resisting Beijing's growing economic and political influence over Hong Kong, a young generation of localist activists who focused on preserving Hong Kong's heritage and identity with some opposing the influx of mainland Chinese culture, ideologies, tourists and immigrants, often with more confrontational methods, gradually grew in strength in the 2010s. In 2012, the introduction of the Moral and National Education which was seen as imposing pro-authoritarian and anti-liberal views triggered a massive student protests led by secondary school student Joshua Wong and other student activists from
Scholarism Scholarism was a Hong Kong pro-democracyWilfred Chan and Yuli Yang, CNNbr>Echoing Tiananmen, 17-year-old Hong Kong student prepares for democracy battle 28 September 2014 student activist group active in the fields of Hong Kong's education po ...
which eventually forced the government to withdraw the scheme. On the other hand, the increasing tensions between the locals and the influx of the mainland Chinese tourists also led to social issues such as Dolce & Gabbana controversy, the Kong Qingdong incident, birth tourism and parallel trading controversies which led to several local protests. Some localists' militant and nativist tendencies often created tensions with the cultural liberals and resulted in further fragmentation within the pro-democracy camp. In 2013, legal scholar
Benny Tai Benny Tai Yiu-ting (; born 12 July 1964) is a Hong Kong legal scholar, political figure, and democracy activist. He was an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong. From 2013, Tai launched and is known for his initiation of ...
proposed an act of non-violent
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
to put pressure on the government if its universal suffrage proposals proved to not to meet the "international standards", which led to the
Occupy Central with Love and Peace Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) was a single-purpose Hong Kong civil disobedience campaign initiated by Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, Benny Tai and Chan Kin-man on 27 March 2013. The campaign was launched on 24 September 2014, partially le ...
(OCLP) campaign. After the
National People's Congress Standing Committee The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...
(NPCSC) on 31 August 2014 announced the framework of the constitutional reform proposal in which Chief Executive candidates would be pre-screened before being elected by the Hong Kong public, the students activists led by Scholarism and
Hong Kong Federation of Students The Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS, or 學聯) is a student organisation founded in May 1958 by the student unions of four higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The inaugural committee had seven members representing the four sc ...
(HKFS) launched a coordinated class boycott which turned into a breaching into the
Central Government Complex The Central Government Complex has been the headquarters of the Government of Hong Kong since 2011. Located at the Tamar site, the complex comprises the Central Government Offices, the Legislative Council Complex and the Office of the Chie ...
. The confrontations between the protesters and police eventually escalated to the 79-day massive sit-in in various locations in Hong Kong known as the "Umbrella Revolution" due to the protesters' use of umbrellas as a tool for defence from the police's assaults. Although the Occupy protests ended without any political concessions from the government, it precipitated a generation of galvanised youth and awakening of Hong Kong people's civic consciousness. After the failure of the protests, the call for Hong Kong independence grew rapidly among the young localist movement. In the
2016 New Territories East by-election The 2016 New Territories East by-election was held on 28 February 2016 after the incumbent Legislative Councillor Ronny Tong Ka-wah of New Territories East quit the Civic Party and resigned from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), effect ...
, Edward Leung of the pro-independence Hong Kong Indigenous received more than 15 percent of the popular vote despite being defeated by Civic Party's
Alvin Yeung Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu (, born 5 June 1981) is a barrister and politician in Hong Kong. He is the former Leader of the Civic Party and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing New Territories East after winning the 20 ...
. the government unprecedentedly barred many localists including Edward Leung from running in the 2016 Legislative Council election, localist candidates under different banners of Hong Kong's "national
self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
" and "democratic self-determination" received 19 per cent of vote in total with six of them being elected, including Occupy protest leader Nathan Law of the
Demosistō Demosisto (stylised Demosistō) () was a pro-democracy political organisation established on 10 April 2016 as a political party. It was led by Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former leaders of Scholarism, along with Nathan Law, former secreta ...
becoming the youngest legislator in history at the age of 23. However over the oath-taking manners by some localist legislators-elect, the NPCSC unprecedentedly interpreted the Basic Law which led to the disqualification of six liberal and localist legislators including Nathan Law.


Liberals under the national security law

The liberal movement went through a slump after the failure of the
Occupy protests The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
and government's retaliation on the protest leaders, putting
Benny Tai Benny Tai Yiu-ting (; born 12 July 1964) is a Hong Kong legal scholar, political figure, and democracy activist. He was an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong. From 2013, Tai launched and is known for his initiation of ...
, Joshua Wong and Nathan Law in jail until in 2019, when the
Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...
administration proposed an amendment to the extradition law which would allow transfers of fugitives to mainland China. The liberals feared it would open itself up to the long arm of mainland Chinese law, putting people from Hong Kong at risk of falling victim to China's closed legal system. The anti-extradition movement grew into massive anti-government protests which attracted more than a million demonstrators into the streets and direct confrontations between the protesters and police. As the protests progressed, activists laid out five key demands including the introduction of universal suffrage. Some protesters also called for Hong Kong's full independence from China. The
storming of the Legislative Council Complex On 1 July 2019, anti-government activists in Hong Kong sieged, broke into, and subsequently occupied the Legislative Council Complex during the campaign to halt the enactment of the Fugitive Offenders amendment bill. Hundreds of protesters br ...
after the annual July 1 march led to the spillovers of the protests all over the city, as the government refused to fully withdraw the extradition bill. The police's inaction when a group of alleged
triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...
members indiscriminately attacked commuters in Yuen Long on 21 July also resulted in the widespread distrust between the police and the public. The protests escalated into the intense confrontations in the
siege of the Chinese University of Hong Kong The siege of the Chinese University of Hong Kong or Chinese University of Hong Kong conflict ( zh, t=中大衝突、中大保衛戰、中大保衛戰、或二號橋衝突) was a part of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. As protesters disrup ...
and the
Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a public research university located in Hung Hom, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. The University is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded ...
in mid November. The 24 November District Council election, which was widely seen as a ''de facto'' referendum on the protest, resulted in the historic landslide victory for the liberals and localists, where the pro-Beijing camp lost nearly four-fifth of its seats. To curb the protests, the government invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to impose a law to ban wearing face masks in public gatherings on 4 October. As the
Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
hit the city in early 2020 and the protests dwindled, the
National People's Congress Standing Committee The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...
(NPCSC) imposed a national security law outlawed "secession, foreign interference, terrorism and subversion against the central government" on 1 July. The law immediately created a chilling effect in the city as
Demosistō Demosisto (stylised Demosistō) () was a pro-democracy political organisation established on 10 April 2016 as a political party. It was led by Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former leaders of Scholarism, along with Nathan Law, former secreta ...
, which had been involved in lobbying for foreign support, and several pro-independence groups disbanded and ceased all operations hours after the passage of the new law, fearing that they would be the targets of the new law. Pro-independence activist
Tony Chung Tony Chung Hon-lam (; born 22 April 2001) is a Hong Kong pro-independence activist. He was the founder and convenor of the localist camp student group Studentlocalism. On 29 July 2020, he became the first political figure to be arrested on susp ...
became the first political figure to be arrested on suspicion of violating the national security law on 29 July. On 10 August, the police raided the offices of Next Digital, the parent company of prominent local liberal newspaper '' Apple Daily'' and arrested its founder and outspoken activist Jimmy Lai and his two sons on the suspicion of violating the national security law. In July, the pro-democrats launched an inter-party primaries to maximise the chance for the liberals to win a majority in the upcoming Legislative Council election. The government warned that the primaries might violate the national security law as organiser
Benny Tai Benny Tai Yiu-ting (; born 12 July 1964) is a Hong Kong legal scholar, political figure, and democracy activist. He was an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong. From 2013, Tai launched and is known for his initiation of ...
and some candidates vowed to seize control of the legislature and vote down key government proposals. Four incumbent pro-democracy legislators and many activists were disqualified from running in the general election for opposing or violating the national security law before Carrie Lam unprecedentedly invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to postpone the election citing the Covid-19 pandemic. In November, the NPCSC passed another resolution to disqualify the four incumbent pro-democracy legislators who were barred from running earlier which led to the mass resignations of all pro-democracy legislators, which left the legislature without any virtual opposition for the first time since 1998. In January 2021, all 55 candidates and organisers in the pro-democracy primaries were arrested under the national security law.


List of liberal parties


Meeting Point

* 1983: Formation of the Meeting Point * 1990: Members of the group formed the ⇒ United Democrats of Hong Kong * 1994: The party merged into the ⇒
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
* 2002:
Anthony Cheung Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...
of the Democratic Party left and formed think tank ⇒ SynergyNet * 2015: Tik Chi-yuen of the Democratic Party left and formed ⇒ Third Side


Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood

* 1986: Formation of the
Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) is a Hong Kong pro-democracy social-liberal political party catering to grassroots interest with a strong basis in Sham Shui Po. Established on 26 October 1986, it was one o ...
* 1990: Members of the group formed the ⇒ United Democrats of Hong Kong * 1996: The radical faction left and formed the ⇒ Social Democratic Front


Hong Kong Democratic Foundation

* 1989: Formation of the Hong Kong Democratic Foundation * 1992:
Leong Che-hung Edward Leong Che-hung (, born 23 April 1939, Hong Kong) was the non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. By training a physician, he graduated from Queen's College, Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong as Bachelor of Me ...
of the group joined the ⇒ Meeting Point


United Democrats to Democratic Party

* 1990: The liberals united in the United Democrats of Hong Kong * 1994: The Meeting Point merged into the ⇒ Democratic Party * 2000: The left-wing faction left and formed the ⇒
Social Democratic Forum The Social Democratic Forum (, SDF) was a short-lived political group in Hong Kong formed by the radical faction of the Democratic Party. It consisted mostly the "Young Turks" faction of the Democratic Party which took a more pro-grassroots and str ...
* 2008: The
Frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...
merged into the ⇒ Democratic Party * 2010: The young Turks left and formed the ⇒ Neo Democrats * 2015: The moderate faction left and formed the ⇒ Third Side


Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions

* 1990:
Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee The Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee ( Chinese: 香港基督教工業委員會, also called as HKCIC) is a non-governmental pressure group that focuses on labor welfare policy and industrial safety. The group was founded in 1966, original ...
formed the
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) was a pro-democracy labour and political group in the Hong Kong. It was established on 29 July 1990. It had 160,000 members in 61 affiliates (mainly trade unions in various sectors) and rep ...
* 2012: The union formed the ⇒ Labour Party * 2021: The union was dissolved


Democratic Alliance

* 1994: Pro-Taiwan politicians formed
123 Democratic Alliance 123 Democratic Alliance ( Chinese: 一二三民主聯盟) was a pro-Kuomintang political party in Hong Kong. Established in 1994 by a group of pro-Taiwan, pro-democracy and pro-business politicians, it aims at striving for the unification of ...
* 2000: The party was dissolved * 2003: Former members formed
Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai Democratic Alliance The Democratic Alliance, formerly called Yuen Long Tin Shui Wai Democratic Alliance, was a small pro-democracy pro-ROC political group in Hong Kong established in 2003 and dissolved in 2021. The final chairman of the alliance was Johnny Mak ...
* 2011: The Democratic Alliance formed alliance with the ⇒
People Power "People Power" is a political term denoting the populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organised corporate or political for ...
* 2012: The Democratic Alliance broke away from the People Power * 2021: The party was dissolved


The Frontier

* 1996: The
United Ants The Ant Alliance (or United Ants; ) was a short-lived civil group in the 1990s that was informally started by workers and professionals for the protection of civil and political rights. These are outlined in the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, ...
formed the Frontier * 2003: Cyd Ho of the group formed the ⇒
Civic Act-up Civic Act-up () is a small pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong. It was founded on 24 September 2003 by a group of relatively young activists with the encouragement of Legislative Councillor Cyd Ho, to challenge the existing pro-government ...
* 2006: The social democratic faction left and formed the ⇒
League of Social Democrats The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy camp and stresses on ...
* 2008: The party merged into the ⇒ Democratic Party * 2010: The radical faction re-registered the
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
* 2011: The party formed alliance with the ⇒ People Power * 2016: The party broke away from the People Power


Citizens Party

* 1997: Formation of the Citizens Party * 2008: The party was dissolved


Article 23 Concern Group to Civic Party

* 2002: Formation of the Article 23 Concern Group * 2003: The group renamed to the ⇒ Article 45 Concern Group * 2006: The group transformed into the ⇒ Civic Party * 2008:
Fernando Cheung Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung (; born 23 February 1957 in Macau) is a Hong Kong politician, the vice-chairman of the Labour Party, and a former member of the Legislative Council. Career Cheung obtained his undergraduate degree in social work fro ...
left the party and later formed the ⇒ Labour Party * 2015: Ronny Tong left the party and formed the think tank ⇒
Path of Democracy Path of Democracy ( zh, t=民主思路) is a political group and think tank established in 2015 in Hong Kong. It is led by former Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong, who joined the Executive Council on 1 July 2017. Although officially unaligned ...
* 2016: Claudia Mo left the party and represented ⇒
HK First HK First is a localist political party in Hong Kong. It had one representative in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Claudia Mo, a former pan-democratic Civic Party member. It was founded in 2013 by two pro-democracy legislators, Claudia M ...


Civic Act-up

* 2003: Cyd Ho formed the Civic Act-up * 2012: The group formed the ⇒ Labour Party


League of Social Democrats

* 2006: Formation of the League of Social Democrats * 2011: Members of the party left and formed the ⇒ People Power


Neo Democrats

* 2010: Formation of the Neo Democrats * 2021: The party was dissolved


People Power

* 2011: Formation of the People Power * 2012:
Wong Yeung-tat Wong Yeung-tat (; born 29 May 1979) is a Hong Kong social activist and the founder and former leader of radical populist group Civic Passion. Biography Wong was born in Hong Kong and graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University. He joined Televis ...
left along with the ⇒ Civic Passion * 2013: Wong Yuk-man left along with the ⇒
Proletariat Political Institute Proletariat Political Institute is a political organisation and school headed by Wong Yuk-man, former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It was first established by Wong in 2010 as a political educational institute within the Leagu ...


Labour Party

* 2012: Formation of the Labour Party


Demosistō

* 2016: Formation of
Demosistō Demosisto (stylised Demosistō) () was a pro-democracy political organisation established on 10 April 2016 as a political party. It was led by Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former leaders of Scholarism, along with Nathan Law, former secreta ...
* 2020: The party was dissolved


Liberal figures and organisations

Politicians and office holders * Brook Bernacchi *
John Bowring Sir John Bowring , or Phraya Siamanukulkij Siammitrmahayot, , , group=note (17 October 1792 – 23 November 1872) was a British political economist, traveller, writer, literary translator, polyglot and the fourth Governor of Hong Kong. He was a ...
* Anson Chan *
Eddie Chu Eddie Chu Hoi-dick (; born 29 September 1977) is a Hong Kong social activist and politician. He is a member of the Local Action and founder of the Land Justice League which are involved in conservation and environmental movements. He is know ...
*
Ding Lik-kiu Dr. Ding Lik-kiu ( Chinese: 陳立僑, 1921 in Raj of Sarawak – 24 June 2008 in San Francisco, United States) was a prominent Hong Kong social activist in the 1970s and 80s. Biography Ding was born in an impoverished family in Borneo (mode ...
* Audrey Eu * Frederick Fung *
John Pope Hennessy Sir John Pope Hennessy (; 8 August 1834 – 7 October 1891), was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator who served as the eighth Governor of Hong Kong and the fifteenth Governor of Mauritius. Early life John Pope Henness ...
* Albert Ho * Cyd Ho *
Ho Kai Sir Kai Ho, CMG, JP, MRCS (; 21 March 1859 – 21 July 1914), better known as Sir Kai Ho Kai, born Ho Shan-kai (), was a Hong Kong barrister, physician and essayist in Colonial Hong Kong. He played a key role in the relationship between ...
*
Denny Huang Dr. Denny Mong-hwa Huang OBE (; 24 July 1920 – 1 August 2007) was a Hong Kong doctor and politician. He was elected member of the Urban Council of Hong Kong from 1967 to 1986 and Hong Kong member to the Chinese People's Political Consultati ...
* Lau Chin-shek * Emily Lau * Nathan Law *
Lee Cheuk-yan Lee Cheuk-yan (; born 12 February 1957 in Shanghai) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1995 to 2016, when he lost his seat. He represented the Kowloon West and the Manufac ...
* Martin Lee *
Alan Leong Alan Leong Kah-kit (; born 22 February 1958), SC is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, representing the Kowloon East geographical constituency, and the sitting-Chairman of the Civic Party. He was also vice-chairperson of th ...
*
Christine Loh Christine Loh Kung-wai, SBS, OBE, JP, Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite (born 1 February 1956), is a former Hong Kong Legislative Councillor, founder and CEO of Civic Exchange, founder of the Citizens Party, and founder of Hong K ...
*
Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...
* Szeto Wah * Elsie Tu * Yeung Sum Intellectuals, writers and activists *
Johannes Chan Johannes Chan Man-mun (陳文敏) SC (Hon) is an Adjunct Professor, former Chair Professor of Law (–2021) and former Dean of the Faculty of Law (2002–2014) at the University of Hong Kong. He specialises in human rights, constitutional and ...
*
Chan Kin-man Chan Kin-man (, born 9 March 1959) is a former associate professor of Sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is one of the founders of the Occupy Central with Love and Peace campaign that strove for universal suffrage for the Hong ...
* Ching Cheong * Alex Chow *
Tony Chung Tony Chung Hon-lam (; born 22 April 2001) is a Hong Kong pro-independence activist. He was the founder and convenor of the localist camp student group Studentlocalism. On 29 July 2020, he became the first political figure to be arrested on susp ...
*
Kuan Hsin-chi Kuan Hsin Chi () is chairman of the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He retired in 2006 but continues to teach political science part-time. He was chairman of the Hong Kong Civic P ...
*
Leung Man-tao Leung Man-tao (;, born 26 December 1970) is a Hong Kong writer, critic and host. Life Leung was born in a Catholic family in Hong Kong on December 26, 1970, with his ancestral home in Shunde, Guangdong. Leung was raised primarily in Taiwan, retu ...
* Lester Shum * Ma Man-fai *
Benny Tai Benny Tai Yiu-ting (; born 12 July 1964) is a Hong Kong legal scholar, political figure, and democracy activist. He was an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong. From 2013, Tai launched and is known for his initiation of ...
*
Tsang Shu-ki Tsang Shu-ki (; 15 April 1950 – 16 August 2014) was a Hong Kong economist and social activist. He was the founding member of the Meeting Point, a political organisation in the 1980s and was the influential thinker among the student and social act ...
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Tse Tsan-tai Tse Tsan-tai (; 16 May 1872 – 4 April 1938), courtesy name Sing-on (), art-named Hong-yu (), was an Australian Chinese revolutionary, active during the late Qing dynasty. Tse had an interest in designing airships but none were ever construct ...
* Joshua Wong *
Yau Lit Yau Lit (; 1864 – 12 December 1936), born Yau Kwai-bok (尢季博), courtesy name Tui-hau (推孝) or Ling-kwai (令季), or Euclid Yau, was a Chinese revolutionary from Shunde District, Shuntak, Guangdong, Kwangtung. He is one of the Four Band ...
* Yeung Ku-wan Think-tanks *
Civic Exchange Civic Exchange is a Hong Kong-based public policy think tank and registered charity. It was founded in 2000 by politician Christine Loh (陸恭蕙), and environmental researcher Lisa Hopkinson (何麗莎). Past CEOs include Loh, Yan-yan Yip, ...
* Hong Kong Democratic Foundation *
Path of Democracy Path of Democracy ( zh, t=民主思路) is a political group and think tank established in 2015 in Hong Kong. It is led by former Civic Party legislator Ronny Tong, who joined the Executive Council on 1 July 2017. Although officially unaligned ...
* SynergyNet Magazines and media * '' Apple Daily'' *
Citizens Radio Citizens' Radio is a radio station in Hong Kong established by pro-democracy camp figure Tsang Kin Shing (). The station is run as a non-profit organization. It started trial broadcasting on 3 October 2005 on 102.8 MHz FM. The regular br ...
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D100 D100 may refer to: * Nikon D100, A digital camera manufactured by Nikon * State road D100 (Turkey), a major highway in Turkey * D100 road, a Croatian state road * d100, the notation for percentile dice ** Zocchihedron, a 100-sided playing die * ...
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Hong Kong Reporter Hong Kong Reporter (; formerly known as Hong Kong People Reporter) was an Internet radio station and forum based in Hong Kong. Established in 2008, the station mainly focused on live talk radio broadcasting although it later expanded into other t ...
Media personalities, radio hosts, and bloggers * Albert Cheng * Denise Ho * Jimmy Lai *
Li Wei-ling Li Wei-ling (born 4 October 1965) is a radio talk show host in Hong Kong. Apart from her experience as a journalist in Ming Pao, Next Media and Commercial Radio, she contributes column articles to ''AM730'' and ''Ming Pao''. Through her radio pr ...
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Stephen Shiu Stephen Shiu (born 22 July 1949) is a Taiwan-based Hong Kong media personality, businessperson, film producer, screenwriter, news presenter, and pundit. He founded Hong Kong Reporter in 2004, an internet radio station focused on live talk radi ...
* Anthony Wong Organisations * Civil Human Rights Front * Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China * Hong Kong Bar Association *
Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee The Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee ( Chinese: 香港基督教工業委員會, also called as HKCIC) is a non-governmental pressure group that focuses on labor welfare policy and industrial safety. The group was founded in 1966, original ...
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Hong Kong Federation of Students The Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS, or 學聯) is a student organisation founded in May 1958 by the student unions of four higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The inaugural committee had seven members representing the four sc ...
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Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union The Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) was a pro-democracy trade union, professional association and social concern group in Hong Kong. Until its disbandment in 2021, it was the largest teachers' organisation in Hong Kong with s ...
* Hong Kong Society of Community Organisation *
Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union (HKSWGU) is a trade union for the social workers in Hong Kong. It was established in 1980. The current president, Cheung Kwok-che is the member in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is one of the trad ...
* Professional Commons *
Scholarism Scholarism was a Hong Kong pro-democracyWilfred Chan and Yuli Yang, CNNbr>Echoing Tiananmen, 17-year-old Hong Kong student prepares for democracy battle 28 September 2014 student activist group active in the fields of Hong Kong's education po ...
Religious leaders active in liberal politics *
Chu Yiu-ming Chu Yiu-ming (, born 10 January 1944 in Hong Kong) is the minister of Chai Wan Baptist Church in Hong Kong. He is one of the founders of the Occupy Central campaign for universal suffrage in the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election. Biog ...
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Fung Chi-wood Fung Chi-wood (, 23 August 1956) was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Regional Council, Shatin District Board Member, and a priest of the Anglican Church in Hong Kong. He was famous for leading the movement against the Daya B ...
* Franco Mella * Joseph Zen Jurists * Kemal Bokhary


See also

* Democratic development in Hong Kong *
Economy of Hong Kong The economy of Hong Kong is a highly developed free-market economy. It is characterised by low taxation, almost free port trade and a well-established international financial market. Its currency, called the Hong Kong dollar, is legally issue ...


Other ideologies in Hong Kong

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Conservatism in Hong Kong Conservatism has deep roots in Hong Kong politics and society. As a political trend, it is often reflected in but not limited to the current pro-Beijing camp, one of the two major political forces in Hong Kong, as opposed to liberalism, a domina ...
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Localism in Hong Kong In Hong Kong, localism is a political movement centered on the preservation of the city's autonomy and local culture. The Hong Kong localist movement encompasses a variety of groups with different goals, but all of them oppose the perceived grow ...
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Socialism in Hong Kong Socialism in Hong Kong is a political trend taking root from Marxism and Leninism which was imported to Hong Kong in the early 1920s. Socialist trends have taken various forms, including Marxism–Leninism, Maoism, Trotskyism, democratic sociali ...


References

{{Liberalism Hong Kong democracy movements
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
Economy of Hong Kong Political history of Hong Kong